That stretch of Hollywood beach, near the Johnson Street band shell, is unique.

Sure, it's quaint, rundown and blissfully underdeveloped.

It also has loads of character.

There are Canadian snowbirds in Speedos drinking beer and eating poutine. There are barflies hanging out at Nick's, where the movies Marley & Me and Body Heat shot scenes. There are loads of reasonably-priced pizza and ice cream joints.

There are elderly couples who dance to the bands that play at the band shell in the evenings.

There are joggers, bikers and Rollerbladers whizzing by along the Broadwalk.

This is the South Florida that I moved here for. Not pretentious South Beach, with its Boa-bearing poseurs and anorexic models. Not overdeveloped Fort Lauderdale beach, with its overpriced luxury hotels and $100 cheesesteaks.

I live in Dania Beach, but I spend loads of time around that central Hollywood beach area.

The old mini-golf course is gone (razed to make way for the hotel), and my little girl loves to play in the sandy playground that will also soon be gone for the hotel.

I hope the project turns out nice and is very successful, unlike the colossal flop that the Hollywood Beach Resort (and shopping mall) turned out to be.

But I'm skeptical.

The hotel developer, Lon Tabatchnick, is a decent guy. I've spoken to him in the past, and he's done good work on Hollywood beach before.

He lives in the Villas at Positano condo tower built next to North Beach Park, about as elegant and unobtrusive a high-rise you'll find next to a beach.

But Margaritaville, at 17 stories, is going to be much more massive. I shudder to think of the shadows cast along the beach late in the day.

I also shudder to think of the overpriced hamburgers and cocktails, and all the other cookie-cutter chain stores that will sprout around the new complex.

Instead of embracing the modest and unique niche this stretch of beach has, Hollywood officials are longing to become something they might never be.

Comments

I feel the same way. Hollywood Beach seems to be the last place left where you know what to expect, and thus is the reason for going there. My daughter grew up on that beach, and I always took and still take my relatives when they are in town. It was always safe, clean, and affordable. I have seen what Margaritaville attracts, especially the ones in the islands, and I fear the quaint, safe, affordable beach I love, will be a distand memory.

I agree that a successful Margaritaville would change Hollywood Beach for the worse, but I'm not too concerned. I don't believe Hollywood has the dynamic for the change -- look at how long the Hollywood Boulevard downtown area, between Federal and Dixie, has been 'revitalizing.' Although it's been at it for years, there are still more empty storefronts in the area than successful businesses.

To change things, you'd have to get rid of the mom-and-pop motels, derail and deter the bargain-loving tourists, and convince the immigrant family run food shops on the Broadwalk that their American Dream lies elsewhere.

What would worry me about the area is seeing other names as principals, like "RK" (ever driven through Sunny Isles Beach?) or "Stiles."

Well hey Michael, with all of the tons of taxpayer money that the CRA doled out (probably to their relatives or at least for contractor kickbacks) -- to have those badly needed parking spaces eradicated and replaced with all of those huge, elaborately ornate, and humongously expensive fresco mosaics with overly ostentatious inlaid stone and glass artworks, supposedly as high-end areas for low-end tourists to lounge around in (yet some of them do not even have seating) but are now only used as hangouts by derelicts, winos, dopers, and juvenile misfits -- we will now have an upscale "resort" to match. Soon, HoBe will be stealing upscale tourists away from lavish resorts such as Monaco. Then the CRA can blow more money on more wasteful projects to make their combination redneck riviera and respite for "Little Havana" and "Little Haiti" and Dania's other-side-of-tracks residents even more upscale...

Margaritaville will not ruin Hollywood Beach, the opposite, it will enhance a little bit that section.
That whole area looks horrible, and is a total waste of space, the stores and restaurants need to be replaced by something new and clean.Why not the corporations? I would love to have a Starbucks Latte, while looking at the ocean.
There are a few coffee shops and they look unsanitary.
Hollywood Bch, does not need to be like South Beach, but it could be a little bit better than what it is, and the snowbirds with their speedos, should updated their wardrobe too. Speedos are for young people.

I also think Hollywood should be left alone. It's quiet, and I like it that way.
If I wanted bustling hot spots, glitzy signs and overpriced food I'd go to South Beach or downtown Ft Lauderdale. Soon Hollywood Beach will end up being just like those places, and it's a bit sad....not to mention unoriginal.

Leave a Reply

COMMENT BOARD GUIDELINES:

You share in the SunSentinel.com community, so we just ask that you keep things civil.
Leave out the personal attacks. Do not use profanity, ethnic or racial slurs, or take shots at anyone's sexual orientation or religion.
If you can't be nice, we reserve the right to remove your material and ban users who violate our Terms of Service.

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

Name (required)

E-mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Comment:

To help keep spam off our site, please enter the letter "e" in the field below:

Advertisement

About the author

MICHAEL MAYO has been the Sun-Sentinel's Broward news columnist since 2002. He is not a failed sports writer, as some detractors contend, just a lapsed one. He came to South Florida to cover sports in 1989. He now takes aim at everything under the sun. He was born in Brooklyn, went to college in Boston and has also lived in London and Spartanburg, S.C. His hobbies include losing weight (unsuccessfully) and losing golf balls (very successfully).